Meeting the Yogi - finally !

The Gita puts it succinctly: ‘Jab Jab Jo Hona Hai, Tab Tab Wo Hoga.’ For Hindi-ignorant Souls, ‘Whenever Something Has To Happen, It Will Happen Only Then.’  And it happened exactly like that!

Wandering through the corridors of Connaught Place with a friend, I finally picked up my copy of ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’. It took me 4 decades to come face-to-face with the Manuscript on Life; and another two months to start reading it. And, to put it simply, the book spellbound me and pushed me into the realm of Cosmic Consciousness! The liberating shock of Cosmic Vision was so powerful that I took time to absorb the whole meaning of ever-present, omniscient nature of the nurturer of Life in the ever-expanding Cosmos!

The impact was felt immensely because, being a book-lover with a good collection of books (including on religion and spirituality) and most of my ‘free-time’ spent in reading, I couldn’t believe that I had kept away from the Life Book all along. By the time I reached the end of those magical pages, I felt blessed but simultaneously ignored: I was quarreling with the God that how could It be so cruel in keeping me deprived for so long!

My inner reactions were strong because besides being a book-lover, I am primarily a Life-lover! I love Life immensely and, therefore, I try to be the change that I want to see in Life. And Paramhansa Yogananda’s account of his life is Life-Changing! 

As a spiritually ever-evolving being, overcoming my limitations of 5 sensory organs and using my inner eyes to perceive the world around me, the essence of my Life has been in Living: living in the Soul with a beating heart and a functional mind to support my Life; living with peace, love, dignity, health & wealth; living an absolutely a normal life – mundane, day-to-day life of a mere mortal. If the world says that you in effect live in your mind (It’s all in the mind), I say, you actually live in your Soul!  

With a Soul-centered approach towards Life, since my beginning I have strongly believed that the common thread running through Life – human and all other forms of life including the inanimate life-supporting objects – is The Spirit, the One Wave who flows through all, ensuring inner-connectedness of Life per se, controlling and connecting Life throughout the Universe through Universal Laws of Nature; that essentially Life is an interplay of energy at various levels. And that we mortals, in spite of having landed on the Moon 4 decades ago, will take at least a couple of millennia more to get a grip on the true definition of Life.

By the time I was at the end of his magical memoir, I experienced a strong soul-stirring emotion; I felt transformed as a human being. My outlook towards my own life and Life per se appeared to undergo seismic alterations; things/aspects which were so dear and crucial for my survival, all of a sudden seemed to dissolve into oblivion; those felt trivial in the Grand Cosmic Scheme of my Life; glancing around I saw people struggling with their ordinary state of living with an eternal quest for ‘something else’ to bring them complete and unending happiness - and I prayed for each of them for the much needed Divine Guidance.

I was hearing Yogananda-ji’s words: “ … You realize that all along that there was something tremendous within you, and you did not know it…”  

The beauty lies in Yogananda-ji’s narrative; he doesn’t sound preachy, rather far from it; the saint’s tone is human-like, with expressions extremely close to that of a divinely blessed author; the difference, nevertheless, lies in the content which clearly establishes the fact that he was indeed The Chosen One! And he was indeed the chosen one for spreading the concept of ancient Kriya Yoga in the West (America).

Through his life-story, he unveils the long forgotten secrets of Life and its universal cycles which had got faded from the humanity’s canvas in the daily millings of ordinary survival, and, which was otherwise well understood by the ancient yogis and gurus in the spiritual crucible of the world i.e. India. The revelations are so profound and extraordinary that I, a self-believing spiritually evolving being, marveled at the miracle called Life! How shallow was my knowledge about Life! My mind- prism which spread rainbow understanding even before, however, the real expanse of those lights was actually narrow all along! Today, post reading his autobiography, I am conscious of the veil over my Cosmic Vision earlier.

“When you go beyond the consciousness of this world, knowing that you are not the body or the mind, and yet aware as never before that you exist— that divine consciousness is what you are. You are That in which is rooted everything in the universe.” 

Yogananda-ji smoothly initiates his readers into the sphere of the higher beings – the yogis - and their miracles, explaining every aspect with solid scientific evidences through the fundamental theories and laws in Physics viz. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, Newton’s Laws of Gravitation, Electromagnetism, Optics, etc.; his explanation of Cosmic Illusion presents the otherwise incomprehensible - Supernatural ! - as purely logical!

Yogananda-ji became what he became because of his Masters: an eclectic array of enlightened entities! Reading about his Masters - Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswar Giri and others – I sensed little bit of Cosmic Intelligence wrapping around me! He intelligently explains that the things – which an ordinary human perception calls as miracles – are accomplished by the great gurus by summoning the basic particles of the Nature and transforming them into the objects of desire -- Babaji being the greatest amongst them all! Introduction to Babaji, the Maha Avatar, transported me into the higher spaces of Infinite Existence!

…The northern Himalayan crags near Badrinarayan are still blessed by the living presence of Babaji, guru of Lahiri Mahasaya. The secluded master has retained his physical form for centuries, perhaps for millenniums. The deathless Babaji is an avatara. This Sanskrit word means "descent"; its roots are ava, "down," and tri, "to pass." In the Hindu scriptures, avatara signifies the descent of Divinity into flesh.  

"Babaji's spiritual state is beyond human comprehension," Sri Yukteswar explained to me. "The dwarfed vision of men cannot pierce to his transcendental star. One attempts in vain even to picture the avatar's attainment. It is inconceivable."  

The Upanishads have minutely classified every stage of spiritual advancement. A siddha ("perfected being") has progressed from the state of a jivanmukta ("freed while living") to that of a paramukta ("supremely free"-full power over death); the latter has completely escaped from the mayic thralldom and its reincarnational round. The paramukta therefore seldom returns to a physical body; if he does, he is an avatar, a divinely appointed medium of supernal blessings on the world.  

An avatar is unsubject to the universal economy; his pure body, visible as a light image, is free from any debt to nature. The casual gaze may see nothing extraordinary in an avatar's form but it casts no shadow nor makes any footprint on the ground. These are outward symbolic proofs of an inward lack of darkness and material bondage. Such a God-man alone knows the Truth behind the relativities of life and death… 

My Net search on these Great Souls further established my ignorant state of being so far; The Beatles had them on their cover of their album ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club’; Rajnikant had tried to spread his reverence towards these great saints through his movie ‘Baba’ in 2004.

Thunderbolt hit me while reading the Chapter 43 “The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar”! Howsoever mindblowing the content – conversation between Yoganand-ji and his resurrected Guru – sounded, but never for a moment did I doubt the pouring Cosmic Revelations! This is a must read for all souls inhabiting the planet earth; the experience is going to be earth-shattering! His Guru shared indepth knowledge about the three phases of a Soul's Life before it merges into the One Soul - which begins on earth (physical) lives, which is followed by astral lives and finally the causal stage of life. Though most of us have a basic understanding about life and its cycles but the details in the chapter is simply out of this world, literally! I had to read it a couple of times before i could get a broader insight into it.

After reading the chapter I was on a celestial journey, floating among the stars and the moons in the Infinite Cosmos beyond my humanly horizons, experiencing a fraction of the Infinite Cosmic Joy, simultaneously trying to get into my past lives and imagine myself in various avatars - I mean, in various humble life-forms possible for a mortal creature like me!

Becoming deeply aware about the real side i.e. the spiritual aspects of Life and its Cycles through Yogananda-ji, I felt immensely sorry for the humanity and especially for the Indians; India, the crucible of culture and spirituality, today is so far removed from all what it realized thousands of years ago and contributed majorly to the evolution of Homo sapiens into humans that it amazes me enormously that how could we lose almost all of our treasure!

That how could we be led to a life so superficial and hollow, devoid of spiritual moorings? That how could we forget the meaning of religion and get into the chaos of dogmas and rituals and castes and other divisive pathways? That how could we, the teachers to the world, forget about the purpose of human life in its transitory phase on earth? That how could we continue to suffer from collective Cosmic Amnesia?

Today, most of the Indians do not even know the definition of spirituality or even religion; for them it is laughable and for either the elderly or for those who “have nothing else to do” or for the “conmen” (India has them in abundance!). The same people, however, regularly resort to religion and flock to places of worship whenever they feel the “need” for it. No wonder it is said that “Ignorance is Bliss”!

Shashi Tharoor describes it comprehensively: “India is not, as people keep calling it, an underdeveloped country, but rather, in the context of its history and cultural heritage, a highly developed one in an advanced state of decay.”  

And when I say Indians, I also include myself but only to a limited extent. And, when I say humanity, I mean the entire human race in every part of the world - the conduct has been equally confused and irrational. I wish every human on this earth gets to meet his/her yogi and evolves into a liberated being and soul and enjoys the all-pervading Cosmic Bliss …And for myself, I pray that I complete my journey of life with Cosmic Blessings ... :) 

Wish Russians had met my Grandfather ...

One of the fondest memories of my grandfather is he asking me to recite the Bhagavad Gita when we visited him and Naniji during our summer holidays. He would smilingly listen to me struggling as a kid to read those amazing verses from the book most of which I hardly understood. It was only at a later stage in life that I developed the necessary mental capabilities to appreciate the Gita. And, perhaps that is the reason why I find the Gita to be one of the most fundamental thoughts on Art of Living and Life per se!

The Gita is so comprehensive and profound that one marvels at the deep intellect of the civilization which formulated it many thousands of years before the rest of the world could crawl out of the caves! One has to read it to grasp it and it is not complicated at all. The Gita talks in a very simple language to the humanity. The ideology is complete; the belief is universal. And a look at all other philosophies of the world makes one realize that every worldly thought stemmed out of the Gita itself – besides the other immensely intense scriptures on philosophy – and religion - which were incidentally penned down during the thriving era of the Indus Valley civilization and which was the foundation of the later period – now modern - Hinduism.

Therefore to call the Gita a militant book with mercenary motives and thus initiating its ban in Russia seemed hugely novice. Thanks to the timely action by the minister of external affairs and the wise intervention of the Russian prime minister that the bizarre move by one of the courts in the erstwhile USSR could be halted. (Coincidentally, the Indian minister is the Gita’s chief protagonist’s namesake – Krishna!) … Well, Thank you, Mr. Putin; it has saved your country from renouncing a knowledge treasure in absence of adequate exposure to the Gita.

This brings me to the fundamental of the issue: why is the world so ignorant about most of the things it possesses? Why in spite of the so-called shrinking of the planet earth and the boundaries becoming so-called irrelevant in today’s inter-connected world that we still seem to know almost nothing about anything belonging to the so-called “others”? Why has the world remained so myopic in views in spite of being inhabited by the more evolved of the species called the Homo sapiens?

In making humans more civilized gradually, one of the major contributions has been of the various world religions. (I am no proponent of any form of organized/structured religion; nevertheless I firmly believe in the oneness of the creator and It being at the helm of the Life.) And that is the reason why we see religion being at the core of evolution of all human civilizations since the beginning of the time. (I also appreciate the contrary: that the various religions were at the core of destruction of all human civilizations and continue to be the main reason for most of the deaths and defeats in today’s world.) One has to know the religion being followed by a particular human race to understand its behavior and beliefs. Moreover, knowledge of the numerous world religions opens one’s eyes and widens one’s mental horizons. Because then you realize that essentially all religions are the same with a similar central theme and therefore all humans are same. And that it is immensely foolish to fight over narrow ideologies like creed, caste, or colour. And the ways of the world look so absurdly limited that it makes you wonder if we can really qualify to label ourselves as “civilized” claiming to have broader views and basic intellect when compared to the lesser mortals i.e. animals.

Coming back to the principal issue of the proposed Gita ban throws some challenges to us Indians. In spite of Hinduism being the first of the evolved religions of the world, we Indians have not been able to take it to the world. It is high time India took progressive steps to make the world understand the nuances of this great religion. (I also accept its flawed interpretation and practice by many.) Once aware, no one would ever propagate banning and branding of the Gita as violent. (I actually feel like LOL!) Instead, in increasing fractured world, the knowledge of the Gita would show all humans the way to a real Life.

Here I also like to LOL at the fellow Indians. Because howsoever high ground we might have taken upon the news of the pending ban on the Gita and would have felt hurt and betrayed and would have laughed and wondered at the limited general knowledge of the related Russians in the case, we wouldn’t have looked withinwith the realization that we too hardly understand the Gita. In fact when it is discussed – and its verses get quoted routinely – I feel like cringing with horror at the lack of awareness amongst the Indians. Every body has his or her own interpretation of the text and most of them are absolutely faulty and twisted to suit one’s selfish interests. For most of the Indians the Gita is a “religious book” to be “worshipped” but not “practiced” as the former is sufficient to cleanse one of his or her sins. We are famous for meting out the same “revered” treatment to all other supremely authored ancient religious books – whether it is the Ramayana or the Mahabharata or the Upnishads or the Puranas or others. Same is the scene with people following other religions. (And seeing people behave in all other parts of the world as well in the name of religion, I am sure the same is being practiced elsewhere also.)

WOW! Then why blame the Russians alone? They are yet to read the Gita and understand the idea. And that is the reason why I wish all the ignorants of the world – including the Indians and the Russians – had met my grandfather …

Happy reading the Gita J